Matchday 18 Preview:
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Memphis 901 FC
Saturday, July 2, 7:30 p.m. ET
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL
Tickets: Tickets for the match can be purchased here or by stopping by the Al Lang Stadium box office starting at 4 p.m. on matchday.
Matchday Special: Fans can enjoy $5 Bud Light beer all match long at Al Lang.
Fireworks: The Rowdies will celebrate Independence Day Weekend with a fireworks show following the final whistle of Saturday’s match.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are at Al Lang Stadium this Saturday with a chance to take down Memphis 901 FC, the current top team in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference and the side that handed the Rowdies a 3-1 defeat in Tennessee back in April
Now back at the friendly confines of Al Lang, Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins hopes to see his side play the brand of soccer that has helped them go unbeaten in the last seven outings.
“This game, we’re at home and I just want to see us on the front foot, creating opportunities,” said Collins. “I think that’s important when you’ve got your home crowd there. No matter who we’re playing, I expect us to be on the front foot, creating opportunities, getting into the final third, having action around the goal mouth. That’s important for not only our team, but also our club and our fans that we create that action. I’ll definitely be really keen to see that on Saturday.”
Memphis struck right out of the gate in the April matchup, scoring in the 12th minute. The Rowdies immediately responded with a sizzling free kick goal from Lewis Hilton, but an injury to Hilton that forced him out and then a red card to Steevan Dos Santos ultimately hindered the Rowdies in a 3-1 loss.
“Their wide wingers caused us a couple of issues,” said Collins. “We didn’t perform well, so that then causes problems when you don’t do things that you need to do well. We’ll need to be mindful of that. They’ve got a well-structured team, but they’ve also got good players that can go by you one-on-one, so they’ve got good attacking options. Aaron Molloy in the midfield with Leston Paul has been very good
Fernandes on Team of The Week
The Rowdies’ attacking midfielder Leo Fernandes earned a spot on the USL Championship Team of the Week for his two-goal shift in the Rowdies’ 5-2 win at Pittsburgh last weekend. With those two goals, Fernandes is now even with Jake LaCava for a club-leading seven goals.
Peak Performances
After a rough April, the Rowdies have turned things around over the least two months, remaining unbeaten over their seven matches.
“When I look at this period of games, for me it’s all about the performance level,” said Collins. “You get performances right, you give yourselves the best opportunity to get the result. You need to manage the game, take your opportunities, but if everyone’s performance is at a good level, you give yourself a great chance, especially when you’ve got great players. We feel we’ve got a good number of players performing really well… When you’ve got a lot of players like that, you give yourself a good chance to win games.
Injury Report:
OUT: Castellanos, Jake Areman
QUESTIONABLE: Dayonn Harris, Steevan Dos Santos
